PEOPLE working with asbestos are at risk from a cancer timebomb, a new Welsh trust will warn today.

PEOPLE working with asbestos are at risk from a cancer timebomb, a new Welsh trust will warn today.

Even those who have only minimal contact with the sub-stance could become victims of malignant mesothelioma.

Asbestos Awareness Wales aims to draw attention to the little known disease which will kill 1% of men born in the 1940s. Every year in Wales 300 men and women are diagnosed with this deadly form of cancer.

Mesothelioma develops either in the lining of the lung or abdomen and is invariably fatal. Symptoms normally only become apparent two or less years before death.

Exposure to asbestos can also cause pleural thickening, asbestosis and pleural plaques.

The trust, which has applied for charitable status, hopes to ensure people still working with asbestos will take the necessary precautions to protect their future health.

Construction industry work-ers who demolish or adapt property containing asbestos are particularly at risk but many other workers in allied trades and professions could also be exposed.

And even though the medical effects of inhaling asbestos dust have long been known, successive governments and enforcement agencies have largely failed to act - mandatory protective precautions were only introduced in the last few years.

Jeff Parsons, a Llanelli lawyer who chairs Asbestos Awareness Wales, said, "Use of asbestos in Britain has been banned since 1999 but the predicted future level of deaths from this carcinogenic sub-stance is particularly depressing.

"The numbers of sufferers coming forward with recognised asbestos-related illnesses are increasing.

"In Wales, information and knowledge of mesothelioma is patchy and varies from area to area. Little or no counselling is offered to men and women who are diagnosed as sufferers and they are often left shell shocked and bewildered about their situation with nowhere to turn for help and guidance.

"Our aim is to try to address this deficiency."

The Asbestos Awareness Wales helpline can be contacted on 07775 815 705.